Gatekeepers 1971
by Akari Light of Darkness
Summary: The year is 1971, and the invaders are back with a new leader.*Episode 5 is up!* Can Ruriko overcome her grief over her parents' death?Is there something about themselves that the Gatekeepers don't know?Plz R&R!
1. Gatekeepers Song!

Author's Note: Konnichiwa, minna! My last Gatekeepers story wasn't very successful, so I decided to type down another one. For starters, I'd like to say that I like Gatekeepers a lot. Whenever I think about my fanfic, I think of it as an episode. So.I created my own version of the Gatekeeper's opening song (not really, the lyrics are still the same, only the pictures). You can skip this if you one and start reading the first episode of my series.  
  
Disclaimer: Nope! I don't own Gatekeepers or any of its characters.but I do own this story and the new characters I added.  
  
GATEKEEPER'S NEW OPENING SONG  
  
I'm sure most of you are familiar with the opening song by now (if not, you wouldn't be reading this!). In my fanfic, the lyrics stay the same but the pictures don't. For everyone's sake, I am NOT going to retype this at the beginning of each and every episode! I'm going to type this down only ONCE! Right here. Right now!  
  
Asu no egao no tame ni. (Same picture with minor differences. Reiko and Megumi are no longer in the picture. Instead, a guy wearing full-black clothing and a red cloth tied around his forehead is standing next to Ruriko and another guy with short, black hair standing next to Fei. Also, Jun Thunders and Jim Skylark are standing next to each other. Oh and Bancho's there too.)  
  
(Background music as the word 'GATEKEEPERS' appear on the screen.)  
  
Chikara to chikara butsukareba. (Now they start to show individual pictures of the Gatekeepers. First up is Ukiya in mid-air, about to perform the Ultra Whirlwind Slash. Camera zooms on him and freeze.)  
  
.arasoi wa hajimaru (Now's Ruriko's turn. She aims an arrow of light at something. Camera zooms in on her face and freeze.)  
  
Tatakau koto ga yuukito. (Hehe.both Kaoru and Bancho are carrying a huge rock! [I think Bancho's gate is the same as Kaoru's] Camera zooms on them and freeze.)  
  
.omowanai kedo (Now's the guy with black clothing and a red cloth tied around his forehead [Kinda reminds me of Ryu from Street Fighter] He's rushing towards an invader [nucleus formed] with his fist ready to intercept. Camera zooms in on him and freeze[I'm not going to reveal his gate yet!)  
  
Mamoritai yo. (Fei performs her Fire Dragon! Ignore the dragon! Camera zooms in on Fei's face and freeze.)  
  
.kimi no sono egao (Little Yukino is in the air, performing her ever-powerful ice attacks. Camera zooms in on her and freeze [not freeze as in ice!] )  
  
Asu e no GE-TO. (I know now's the time for the bad guys.but I cut that part out. Continue with the Gatekeepers' characters! The other guy with the short, black hair opens his gate and a wall of earth rises from the ground. [obviously, it's the 'Gate of Earth'] )  
  
.mienai keredo (Now this shows Jun and Jim simultaneously using their gates. Jim is zooming away with his supersonic gate and Jun is using a 'Thunder Bolt'. )  
  
Dare ni demo aru yo (It's that guy again! [guy with unrevealed gate] This isn't actually another individual picture of him. The background is reddish black [like when they were showing the bad guys last time] and that guy could be seen walking slowly in the distance, towards the camera with his face down)  
  
Let's open the gate! (Suddenly, the camera zooms in [not very close.just close enough so you can see him more clearly.] He raises his head to reveal a determined face. [When the word 'gate' is said in the song], with one swift motion, he raised his hand towards the sky and opened his gate.a black gate!)  
  
Kinou no namida wa, kitto muta ja nai (This part I didn't change.same as usual.)  
  
Arasoi no nai, mirai wa (Same.)  
  
Ano tobira no. (Screen shows a black background with green criss-cross lines. In it is a green wire frame of some sort of robot with a pair of wings. Also, some computer data language are strewn all over the screen.)  
  
.mukougawa! (Screen shows a golden circle of light appearing below a robot's legs [only its legs can be seen] and then suddenly, the circle burst into a tall pillar of golden light that envelopes the whole robot [still can't see the robot] )  
  
Mune no oku fukaku, jitto shimaikonda (Same.except for the part near the end, where I added a silhouette of a girl's face, who had two ponytails on each side, overlooking the invaders, with a glint on her spectacles [.pretty obvious as to who that is].)  
  
Kagi wo takaku kakagete, fumidasowa. Asu no egao no tame ni! (Now this has to be really, really fast, since there's about 10 gatekeepers in all now. First Ukiya[same], then Ruriko [same], Kaoru [same], Bancho [Double Inside Circular Throw], Fei [same], guy with short, black hair [row of sharp spike stones jut out in a straight line], Yukino[same], Jim [Mach 5], Jun [Thunder Volt] and finally. the guy with the black gate appears and unleashes a burst of black energy.)  
  
YOU CAN OPEN THE GATE! (All the 10 Gatekeepers I mentioned appear on the screen [yes, even the guy with the black gate] and do the 'Yokai, AEGIS!' symbol with their hands.)  
  
Author's Note: Well, there you have it! To all those that just read that, I say 'Arigato gozaimasu'. Now, on to the next chapter for the very first episode of my series! 


	2. Return of the Invaders!

Author's Note: Konnichiwa, minna! Hope you're all ready for the first episode of my series. Well, let's begin the show!  
  
Disclaimer: Err.nope, I still don't own the Gatekeepers and it's characters. But I do own the characters I added and this story! :)  
  
PROLOGUE  
  
The year is 1971. It has been nearly half a year since the Gatekeepers confronted Reiji Kageyama in that fateful battle. It has been nearly half a year since the Gatekeepers last used their gates. Now.all that is long and forgotten. The Gatekeepers lead a normal, average life now. However, AEGIS is still operating, in case of sudden emergencies. But nothing has happened.yet. *********************************************************************  
  
*Insert new version of Gatekeepers opening song here (read the previous chapter)*  
  
It was raining heavily that night. Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by the deafening roar of thunder. The trees sway to and fro, blown by a strong breeze in the air. At Haneda airport, a Boeing 737 was just about to land on the runway. Despite the unfavorable weather conditions, the plane managed to land safely. Quickly, all its passengers rushed out of the plane with umbrellas, bags on their heads and anything that can keep them from getting drenched in the storm. It was quite a ruckus since all of them rushed to find cabs to get away from the terrible storm. All.except one. He was standing there alone at the edge of the crowd, rain pouring down on him. He wore a black trench coat and there was an odd, long bundle tied to his back. He gazed around at all the frantic people. It was so dark, that not many noticed he was even there. After all the people had left the airport, the dark figure started to walk. He didn't seem to care about the rain. He didn't seem to care about the storm. He just slowly walked away from the airport and then, was gone among the shadows.  
  
RETURN OF THE INVADERS  
  
The storm had subsided. The birds were chirping merrily in the trees, as the sun started to rise from the east. Ruriko awakened at the sound of her alarm clock. She got up and shut the alarm off before stretching herself. She then got out of bed and went over to the window to open it. "Good morning, little birdies!" a phrase she usually used every morning. And as usual, Ukiya was in his room with only a pair of underwear on. "Ohayo, Rurippe!" greeted Ukiya as he noticed her through his window. Ruriko seemed to be annoyed. "Ukiya-kun, why can't you ever wear decent clothes in the morning?!" Ukiya grinned. "I just woke up. What'd you expect?" "Anyway," Ukiya changed the topic, "Ready for the first day of school this year?" Ruriko nodded her head. "I can't wait to meet the others. It's been a while since we last saw them." "Demo.Reiko-san won't be with us this year," said Ukiya, "She graduated to a musical college, remember?" "Oh, I almost forgot about that," said Ruriko, "That's just too bad." ".Have you seen Megumi yet?" "No." "It's odd.Ever since that battle with Kageyama, we haven't seen her at all." Ruriko shrugs and looks at her watch. "Oh my gosh! Look at the time! I'm gonna be late for school!" she exclaimed, "See you later, Ukiya-kun!" "C'ya, Rurippe!" ********************************************************************* "Hey, look! It's them!" "Ukiya-sempai! Ruriko-san! Over here!" Kaoru waved her hand at them as the two entered the classroom. They approached Kaoru, Fei and Bancho. "So, how was your holidays?" asked Ukiya. "I just stayed at home," said Fei. "What about you, Bancho?" Ukiya asked as he turned to him. Bancho's face became sad and forlorn. (special effects, background becomes black and a gust of wind blows) "I had to fulfill my duties as a Gate Super." he said with a very solemn face. "You had to help Specs with the maintenance duties, right?" Ukiya teased Bancho. Bancho cried (anime style). "It's not fair! How come I have to do all the dirty jobs and you all get to go on holidays?!" "Calm down, Bancho. I'm sure you'll get a vacation. I mean, Shidei (commander) only asked you to help Specs because of all the damage the base has taken," consoled Kaoru, "Now that there's no more invaders, the base wouldn't need anymore maintenance." Bancho stopped crying. "No more invader." he said as if he just realized that. He cried again (anime style). "What are you crying for now???" Ruriko suddenly asked. "Now that there's no more invaders, I can't show off my gate powers as a heroic Gate Super!!!" he sobbed. Everybody sweatdropped. -_-;;; "Kaoru, did you go anywhere?" asked Ukiya. Kaoru smiled gleefully and nodded her head. "Sure I did. My parents brought me to a beach somewhere. It was sooo fun there!" "Wish you could have been there with me," she added, gazing at Ukiya with alluring eyes. Ruriko glared at her. "E-hem!" "Yes, Ruriko," said Kaoru, looking innocently at her, "Is there something you wanted to say?" "Err." Ruriko was speechless. She only wanted to shift Ukiya's attention away from Kaoru. "Hey! Did you go anywhere?" asked Ukiya to Ruriko, "I remembered you left for a week or two." Bancho stopped crying. "I bet she went abroad to other countries," he grumbled under his breath. "Err." Ruriko blushed, "You really wouldn't want to know." "Tell us," said Kaoru, "Should be somewhere interesting." "Not really." said Ruriko. "A-HA! I know!" exclaimed Ukiya with a grin. Ruriko seemed rather alarmed. "You do?" "Hehe.you went to." Ukiya pointed an accusing finger at her, "The strip club that just opened in town!!!" Ruriko's really pissed-off now. "NANI?! BAKA!!!" She landed her fist in Ukiya's face and he fell down with a large bruise on his forehead. @_@ "I knew it!" said Bancho as he turned to Fei, "She DID punch Ukiya in the face today. Pay up!" Fei grumbled as she handed Bancho a 1000 yen note. "Seriously." Kaoru said, "Where did you go, then???" "Fine!" Ruriko was fed-up with them, "If you all really want to know, I just went to my grandmother's house!" Everybody was dumbstruck. o_O?! "That's it?!" Bancho asked, "And I thought Ukiya was telling the truth." Ruriko clenched her fist as she got ready for another blow. Bancho realized his mistake. "Uh-oh." he gulped. ********************************************************************* Meanwhile, in the AEGIS Far East Branch Base, the commander was sitting in his chair, reading some documents while occasionally sipping a cup of coffee. He looked disdainfully at the coffee. "Miss Ochiai can never get the taste right," he grumbled under his breath as he flipped through the documents. There was nothing much for him or his staff to do. The invaders were gone for good. AEGIS was of no use anymore. Yet, the commander wanted the base to remain intact and the staff remains hired. No one knows why. Miss Ochiai approached the commander. She paused and hesitated. "Shidei." "Hm?" the commander looked at her over the documents, "Is something wrong?" "Ie (No) ," she shook her head, "Demo.there is something I want to ask you about." "Go on. I'm listening," said the commander as he took another sip of his coffee. "Why do you want this AEGIS base to remain operating? All the other branches have closed as soon as the invaders were gone," she said. The commander slowly put down his cup and looked at her. "I fear.the invaders are not gone." "But that can't be!" blurted out Miss Ochiai, "All the remaining invaders were sucked in to that black hole. There's no way." The commander cut her off, "They will return.As long as there are Gatekeepers in this world, they will return." "I.I don't understand." "The invaders were originally created by a black gatekeeper," explained the commander, "If they can create it before, they can create it again." "Oh." "Demo.that is only what I think," said the commander as he stood up and turned around to look at a screen showing a map of Tokyo, "Who knows what the future may hold for Japan." ********************************************************************* After school that day, Ukiya approached Ruriko before she started to walk back home. "Hey! Rurip." Ukiya changed his words when he received a glare from her, "I mean, Ruriko!" "Nan desu ka? (What is it?)" she asked. "Well, you see." Ukiya tried to phrase this properly, "It's been a while since we two went out together..alone." "Eh? Are you asking me out for a date?" Ukiya bent his head a little to hide his face that had blushed with embarrassment. "Well..it's okay if you don't want to.I.I understand.." "I.I'd love to, Ukiya." "R-Really?" "Sure," Ruriko smiled when she saw Ukiya stared at her in disbelief. Ukiya too smiled. "Great! I'll pick you up around 6 this evening! C'ya!" He left off in a hurry, just in case Ruriko suddenly decided to change her mind. Ruriko smiled. "Ukiya-kun." ********************************************************************* Ukiya brought his car up to Ruriko's front gate and horned loudly. "Coming!" said Ruriko as she said goodbye to her parents before hurrying out of the house and into his car. "So.where are we going?" she asked. "Errr.." Ukiya tried to think of something up. He hadn't really given much thought about it actually.as long as he had Ruriko with him. "Errr..maybe somewhere around Tokyo."he said. "That's a pretty vague answer," she commented, then she suggested, "Why don't we go to that new restaurant downtown?" "Okay, whatever you say," Ukiya shifted the gear and drove off. ********************************************************************* While they were cruising along the roads, Ukiya was absent-mindedly gazing at Ruriko while driving the car, albeit it was very dangerous. "She's so.beautiful." he thought to himself. "Maybe I shouldn't have called her Rurippe all this time." "If only I knew sooner that she actually loved me." "No, wait.I did know."  
  
*FLASHBACK* A young Ukiya and Ruriko were facing each other. "When are you leaving?" asked Ukiya. "Next week," replied Ruriko. "Shun, we're leaving" called out a voice. "Coming, Mum!" He was about to go but then. "Matte (Wait)," said Ruriko. "Actually I...I've always.." she clutched the dinosaur toy that Ukiya had given her earlier, "Loved you!" (special effect-echo) "Gomen ne, Rurippe," said Ukiya, "But I like Miyo. She doesn't snivel like you." *(OKAY! BACK TO REALITY)* "It was all my fault..if only I had given her a chance to prove herself." "Hey, Ukiya! Watch out for that truck!" "Huh?" Ukiya snapped back to reality. "Yikes!" he swerved the car to avoid the truck. "Ukiya! Don't drive so recklessly!" scolded Ruriko. Ukiya just kept quiet. He stopped daydreaming and started to concentrate on the road more. ********************************************************************* After having a romantic dinner at the restaurant (which burnt a hole in Ruriko's pocket since she's paying for it n_n;;;), they decided to walk around the city. (It was already nighttime) They enjoyed their time a lot. After a while walking, they reached a beautiful, large fountain. Ruriko went up to the fountain and dipped her hand into the fountain and washed her face with the refreshing icy cold water. Ukiya just stood a little way behind her, smiling. Ruriko backed up a bit.and tripped over a rock! "Whoah!" Ruriko exclaimed, but then an arm shot out and grabbed her by her back and she didn't fall. Ruriko looked up to see Ukiya's face smiling down at her. She smiled back. "Perfect," thought Ukiya as he hugged Ruriko. Ruriko did not retort, but instead snuggled up in his arms. All was silent as the two cuddled up to each other. .but not for long. Suddenly, they heard footsteps of a large number of people. They then saw that a group of people was walking in a zombie-like manner towards them. "It.it can't be!" Ukiya blurted out. Ruriko was worried. She clutched Ukiya's arm harder. Their fears came true. The people suddenly took out a pair of sunglasses and don them on. .the invaders have returned!  
  
TO BE CONTINUED.  
  
*Insert ending song here (the one that sounds like the beginning song but twice as long)*  
  
Author's Note: Gomen ne since I didn't actually describe much about their dinner and everything. I was just too lazy to type it down :P Anyway, PLEASE send in you reviews! I beg of you! I really wanna know if this story is okay. Till next time, ja!^_^ 


	3. Old Friends, New Enemies!

Author's Note: Sorry for last chapter's sorry excuse for an episode. Maybe I'll revise it when I have the time. Anyway, here's the 2nd episode!  
  
Disclaimer: Err.nope, I don't own Gatekeepers or any of its characters.  
  
********************************************************************* *Insert new opening song here*  
  
'Shinku Missuail!!!'  
  
A projectile of wind energy dashed across the air and hit the invader on one of its arms.  
  
'Rurippe!' he called to Ruriko, 'Cover me! I'm going in for the kill!'  
  
'But it's too dangerous.' Ruriko started to say, but Ukiya had already gone ahead to confront the four-armed beast.  
  
Ruriko sighed. Earlier on, they were having such a nice time.why did the invaders have to come and spoil it???  
  
Just then a black ball almost hit Ukiya. 'Oi, Rurippe! What are you doing there???'  
  
'Eh?' Ruriko snapped back to reality, 'G-gomen nasai!'  
  
She took out a few arrows and aimed them at the black balls that were trying to knock down Ukiya.  
  
'Ultra Whirlwind Slash!!!'  
  
Ukiya jumped at its body and delivered a slash powered with wind energy at it.  
  
The invader's arms dematerialize into green crystals. Then, the red core revealed itself.  
  
Reacting quickly on instinct, Ruriko shot an arrow of light at the red core and the whole beastlike invader dematerialized into a shower of crystals that lit up the night sky for a brief minute.  
  
Ukiya gazed at the crystals momentarily, then he looked at Ruriko and smiled.  
  
'We did it.'  
  
OLD FRIENDS, NEW ENEMIES  
  
'This is a very grave matter,' said the commander.  
  
After Ukiya and Ruriko reported the incident just now, the commander immediately summoned the rest of the Gatekeepers.even though they were still sleepy.  
  
'If what Ukiya and Ikusawa-kun just told me is true.then that means,' the commander paused for a while, 'The invaders have returned.'  
  
Fei yawned. 'Aiaiai, Shidei! Can't this wait till morning?'  
  
The commander shook his head. 'Invaders don't sleep.'  
  
'But Shidei, all we have to do is just defeat them all over again,' said Kaoru, 'With me and Ukiya (grabs him by the hand), we're unstoppable!'  
  
'E-hem! Don 't you mean with all of us?' Ruriko glared at her.  
  
'I'm afraid it won't be as easy as that,' said the commander.  
  
'Nani?' they all said.  
  
'Reiji Kageyama is no longer the invaders' leader.'  
  
'Sonna!' said Ukiya, 'Then.who is it?'  
  
The commander thought for a while, then said, 'We have no idea. That's what makes it even more dangerous. We have no idea who this new leader is.but I fear he knows more about us.'  
  
'For now.just be alert at all times, for you have to fight the invaders yet again.'  
  
'Hai!' everyone replied.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
The next day, the five were walking along a street, thinking about what happened last night.  
  
'A new leader, huh?' Ukiya said aloud to himself, 'I wonder what he's like.' 'Ne, Ukiya-kun,' said Kaoru.  
  
'Nan desu ka?'  
  
'What were you and Ruriko doing in town that time?'  
  
'Err.' Ukiya tried to make up some excuse.  
  
'You were on a date, weren't you?' Kaoru glared at him.  
  
'Ie, we were.er.doing.Social Studies! Yeah, that's it! Social Studies!'  
  
'Social Studies at night???' Kaoru glared at him even more.  
  
Ukiya was at a loss. n_n;;;  
  
Kaoru thought to herself. 'I wonder what they were doing so late at night in town.'  
  
All sorts of dirty things entered her mind and she was boiling with rage.  
  
'Hiyeaaaaaaaaah!' she let out her anger with a single punch.  
  
.that landed on a lamp post.  
  
The lamppost slowly broke away and fell down on an unsuspecting pedestrian.  
  
'Oops.'  
  
'Aiaiai! Kaoru-san, you really need to control your strength a bit more,' said Fei.  
  
'Hehehe,' said Kaoru n_n;;; , 'Guess I forgot my own strength.'  
  
'Oooh! Something smells nice here,' suddenly said Bancho and he stopped outside a restaurant, 'You know, I haven't had lunch yet.' He winked at Ukiya.  
  
'Me neither. Let's go eat!' said Ukiya and they both went into the restaurant.  
  
'What's up with them?' asked Fei.  
  
'They're always hungry,' Ruriko said, 'They eat like pigs!'  
  
Kaoru went over to the door and looked inside and her eyes bulged out.  
  
'I'm afraid your wrong, Ruriko Sempai,' said Kaoru.  
  
'Eh?'  
  
Kaoru beckoned Ruriko and Fei to the door. 'Come and look at the attraction s.' When Ruriko and Fei went to the door, they saw.  
  
.about 15 waitresses, but not just ordinary waitresses, bikini-clad waitresses!  
  
'Oh! So that's why they were so 'hungry' all of a sudden,' said Ruriko.  
  
'Why don't we go and eat, too? I'm starving,' said Fei.  
  
'Well, okay, let's go,' said Ruriko.  
  
The girls went over to the table where Ukiya and Bancho were having a nice chat with a waitress in a yellow swimsuit.  
  
'Well, haven't you ordered anything?' asked Kaoru in mock tone, 'Back there, you said you were really 'hungry'.'  
  
'Oh,' Ukiya realized the girls were there, 'Sure.'  
  
'Here's the menu,' the waitress passed five menus to each of them, 'Call me when you're ready to order.'  
  
'Hmmmm..' they all focused their attentions on the menu.  
  
'Waitress!' Ukiya called out and she came back in a jiffy.  
  
'Okay,' she took out a pen and notebook, 'what's your order?'  
  
'I'll have the Fiery Dragon Special,' said Ruriko.  
  
The others looked up from their menus, 'Hey! I wanted to order that!'  
  
'Okay, then..5 Fiery Dragon Specials.' she wrote down on her notebook, 'Normal or Extra Spicy?'  
  
'Normal.'  
  
'Normal.'  
  
'Normal.'  
  
'Normal.'  
  
'.Extra Spicy!!!'  
  
Suddenly, the noisy restaurant went quiet, that if a pin were to drop to the floor, it could be heard.  
  
All the other customers stopped eating. All the waitresses stopped in their tracks and stared at the table where they were sitting.  
  
Ukiya looked around, bewildered. 'What? Is it something I just said?'  
  
The waitress finally spoke, 'You were just kidding, right? You wanted Normal?'  
  
Ukiya looked queerly at the waitress, 'No. I asked for Extra Spicy.'  
  
'You obviously don't know what you're doing,' said the waitress, 'Is this your first time here?'  
  
'Well.yeah.'  
  
'Then, you'd better take Normal.'  
  
'Why's that?'  
  
'The last person who took Extra Spicy fainted out for three weeks.'  
  
'Nani?!'  
  
The waitress nodded her head. 'It's true.'  
  
'Hmmm.' Ukiya thought for a while, then he grinned, 'Then, let me be the first to not faint out for three weeks!'  
  
'You do realize that the restaurant isn't responsible for any tongue injuries, overheat..'  
  
'Okay, I get the message!' Ukiya said exasperatedly, 'I just wanna eat!'  
  
She shrugged. 'As you wish.'  
  
The restaurant then returned to its noisy self.  
  
'That was a foolish risk you took!' said Ruriko, 'What if you do faint out for three weeks??? Then, you won't be able to fight the invaders!'  
  
Ukiya just remarked coolly, 'Daijoubu. I won't faint.'  
  
In less than 5 minutes, the waitress appeared with their dishes.  
  
'Wow! That was quick!' said Bancho.  
  
'Our new cook is real fast,' said the waitress.  
  
'New cook?' Kaoru asked.  
  
'Uh-huh. This new cook just came a few days ago,' she said and she looked at the restaurant, 'Last time, this place was nearly empty.even though we tried the swimsuit approach.cuz our food didn't taste that good. But when that new cook came along, everyone came here! It's as if by magic! Not only is the cook good, but the cook's also fast!'  
  
'Enough chit-chat!' said Ukiya as he reached for his dish, 'It's time to eat!'  
  
Again, the whole restaurant turned quiet as everyone rushed to see him eat the Extra Spicy Fiery Dragon Special.  
  
'Cool! I get publicity as well,' Ukiya thought to himself and he purposely took a bite from the dish s-l-o-w-l-y.  
  
He frowned in concentration as he chewed his first bite.  
  
Everyone was practically breathing down the group's neck to see whether Ukiya will faint or not.  
  
He swallowed it, then he paused.  
  
He puffed out a stream of smoke from his mouth.  
  
'Heh! That wasn't so spicy!' said Ukiya triumphantly with a grin.  
  
But then suddenly, he felt the spiciness of the dish get to him.and fast!  
  
His face turned red-hot and tears came down from his eyes.  
  
Suddenly, he breathed fire out through his mouth.  
  
The crowd drew back in fear of getting toasted.  
  
'AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! HOT!!! HOT!!! HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' Ukiya yelled as he ran around the room, burning things up with the fire through his mouth.  
  
He spotted a small indoor pool nearby and quickly jumped into it.  
  
'SPLASH!!!'  
  
'Aaaaaaah,' Ukiya said as he cooled down, 'Good thing you had an indoor swimming pool.'  
  
'Oh, but that's not an indoor swimming pool!,' said the waitress, 'That's where we keep our pet shark, Mary!  
  
'Uh-oh, not good!' Ukiya yelled as he felt something pull his leg down under, 'HELP!!!'  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
After getting Ukiya out of the pool, they took off his shirt to dry it in the sun.  
  
'How are you feeling, Ukiya-kun?' asked Ruriko.  
  
'Much.better,' he replied back.  
  
The waitress then came over with Ukiya's shirt. 'Here's your shirt. It's dry now.'  
  
Ukiya quickly put on his shirt.  
  
'Congratulations!' said the waitress with a smile, 'You're our first customer that didn't faint after eating the Extra Spicy Fiery Dragon Special!'  
  
'Gee. I'm thrilled,' said Ukiya sarcastically.  
  
'Oh, I almost forgot,' said the waitress, 'The new cook wants to see you. He heard of your daring attempt.'  
  
'Can we come too?' Bancho asked.  
  
'I suppose.'she said.  
  
She then led them to the kitchen.  
  
In there, they saw other bikini-clad girls, the cooks, most probably. But they had nothing to do and seemed rather bored.  
  
'Why aren't they cooking anything?' asked Ruriko.  
  
'Oh, that's because all our customers prefer the new cook's cooking,' said the waitress.  
  
'Sokka.'said Kaoru.  
  
'I wonder whether the new cook's as pretty as how good she can cook,' whispered Bancho to Ukiya.  
  
'I can't wait to see her,' whispered back Ukiya.  
  
Then, they saw another cook busy cooking some sort of dish.but she wasn't wearing a bikini. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a black jacket.  
  
The waitress went over to her, 'Akio, this is the guy I told you about.'  
  
She turned around.  
  
The five were flabbergasted.  
  
'The new cook's a GUY???!!!'  
  
'Oh, hi there!' said Akio.  
  
'Well, I gotta go, see ya!' said the waitress and she went off.  
  
Now that they could see his front, he was wearing a red t-shirt under his jacket and also a red thin piece of cloth was tied around his forehead. He had spiky black hair and brown eyes.  
  
Suddenly, he stared at Ukiya and Ruriko. 'Ukiya-kun?! Ruriko-san?!'  
  
'Eh? How do you know our names?' asked Ruriko.  
  
He smiled. 'We were in kindergarten together remember? ' 'Akio.' Ukiya tried to recall the name from somewhere in his past.  
  
'Oh! Now I remember!' said Ukiya, 'You were that kid who peed in his pants in class last time!'  
  
'Gee. That's a nice way of remembering someone,' Akio said sarcastically. -_-;;;  
  
'Oh! You mean that Akio!' said Ruriko as he too remembered, 'You used to be such a bookworm last time.'  
  
'Well, yeah,' he said, 'But my new hobby's cooking!'  
  
Akio turned to Ukiya. 'I heard you didn't faint. Well done!'  
  
Just then, a waitress came in and said, '8 stir-fried meat and vegetables!'  
  
'Only 8?' Akio remarked a bit disappointed.  
  
'Sorry, guys! But I gotta cook now!' he said to them.  
  
'Can we watch?' asked Kaoru pleadingly, 'We could pick up some tips from you.'  
  
'Sure, why not?' he replied back.  
  
'Sugoi!' Kaoru took a pen and notebook.  
  
Fei followed suit.  
  
Ruriko hesitated, then thought, 'If I can cook better than Kaoru, maybe Ukiya-kun will like me more!' She too took out a pen and notebook.  
  
The boys however were just content with watching him cook.  
  
Akio smiled slyly at the girls with pens and notebooks in hand, 'Try to keep up with me.if you can!'  
  
With lightning speed, he took a huge portion of beef and an arm's length chopping knife!  
  
He focused for about 2 seconds then all was a blur of slicing to the Gatekeepers. The slices of meat went into a wok with some preheated oil already in it.  
  
He then threw his chopping knife aside and took and went over to the opened boxes where the vegetables were kept. He took out a dagger and held it in one hand in front of his right eye, and concentrated.  
  
'I never heard of using a dagger in cooking before,' said Ukiya.  
  
Akio ignored his remark. Then, it looked to them as if he was just casually waving the dagger across the boxes in one direction, but then suddenly, a handful of vegetables were sliced and diced and were now jumping up into the air.  
  
Quickly, Akio took the wok from the stove and caught all the vegetables in the wok before they fell down to the floor. He returned it to the stove and cooked it.  
  
Then, he added some chili powder and took out a small pouch from his pocket. He opened it carefully. It appeared to be some sort of seasoning. He took a pinch and lightly sprinkled it all over the dish.  
  
After the dish was cooked, Akio lifted the wok and threw all its contents sky-high!  
  
'Nani?!' everyone said in astonishment.  
  
Akio quickly went over to a pile of plates and took eight of them. He threw them in the air directly under the food that was still in the air, falling slowly. The food fell perfectly on to each plate and not a single scrap fell to the floor. Akio quickly held up one hand to receive the plate and he passed it to his other hand and put it on the table.  
  
Finally, the dishes were ready!  
  
Ukiya and Bancho's mouth watered.but then a waitress came along and took it away to the customers.  
  
Akio wiped his dagger clean and kept it. 'Got that all down.'  
  
Meanwhile, Ruriko, Kaoru and Fei were comparing notes. Each one of theirs was different, and the worst part was they couldn't even make heads or tails of their own writing! They had to write real quickly to keep up with Akio, so their writing looked more like indecipherable writings.  
  
However they said, 'Sure we got that down!'  
  
Akio smiled. He knew they didn't get to write clearly.  
  
Suddenly, the restaurant rocked as if there was an earthquake!  
  
'Nani?! What's going on?' Akio asked.  
  
Ukiya went over to the window and was shocked to see a huge eight- legged black creature walking along the street, wrecking the cars and causing havoc all over the place.  
  
He tried to contact AEGIS through his watch but it was static.  
  
The rest had realized what was happening and was awaiting commands from their leader.  
  
'I can't contact AEGIS. We'll have to fight without orders!' said Ukiya.  
  
'Yokai, AEGIS!' o_oV  
  
The Gatekeepers went out of the restaurant to confront the invader.  
  
Meanwhile, Akio was busy taking all his stuff with him. The restaurant could very well collapse anytime now. He didn't know there was an invader on the street outside. He looked out the window, but surprisingly, he wasn't shocked to see it.  
  
'Damn! Why did it have to come now?' he cursed under his breath.  
  
When he got out of the restaurant, he was surprised to see his friends fighting the invader.  
  
'Shinku Missuail!!!'  
  
'Fire Panda!!!'  
  
'Kaoru Punch!!!'  
  
'Double Inside Circular Throw!!!'  
  
'Hikari no Ya!!!'  
  
'S-sonna.' he didn't believe what he was seeing, 'So they're the Gatekeepers!'  
  
While they were busy fighting, Akio just stood there pondering over what he's seeing. He knew they could never find out its weak spot, the red core. He knew they could never defeat it. He knew because.  
  
'AAAAH!' yelled Ruriko as the invader tried to crush her with one of its legs.  
  
She fell down and could barely get up.  
  
The invader approached her and was about to crush her for good!  
  
'Shinku Missuail!!!'  
  
'Get away from her!' Ukiya yelled.  
  
But the invader shot out a stream of web that entangled Ukiya, along with the rest of the Gatekeepers.  
  
'Damn! I can't move!'  
  
The invader then changed its target to Ruriko. It slowly raised one of its huge legs, ready to kill her.  
  
'Yameru!'  
  
The invader stopped and tried to find the source of the voice.  
  
Akio then came out with a stern look on his face.  
  
'Abunai desu yo! (It's dangerous!) Run, Akio!' Ukiya managed to yell out.  
  
But Akio ignored him.  
  
'You have done far too much damage,' said Akio to the invader.  
  
The invader did not move. It merely stood there on its eight legs.  
  
'Gate.  
  
Akio slowly raised his hand.  
  
'Huh?' everyone said.  
  
'.Open!'  
  
With a wave of his hand, a gate appeared in front of him.a black gate.  
  
'Nani?!'  
  
'Aiaiai!'  
  
'It can't be!'  
  
'What's going on?'  
  
'I'm seeing things!'  
  
Akio ignored those remarks.  
  
He quickly took out the dagger from its sheath and threw it at the invader.  
  
It seemed to burst through the atmosphere as streams of black sprayed down from it as it sailed through the air and went through the invader from front to back.  
  
The invader then dematerialized slowly into a shower of green crystals.  
  
The web too disappeared.  
  
Ukiya went over to Ruriko and helped her up. 'Are you okay?'  
  
'I'm fine,' she replied and she looked at Akio.  
  
Ukiya too stared at him.  
  
'Akio..you..you're a.' Ukiya started to say.  
  
'.a black Gatekeeper,' Ruriko finished his sentence.  
  
Akio just stood there nonchalantly without saying a word.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED.  
  
*Insert ending song here*  
  
Author's note: I hope this story is okay. Please R&R! And I'll see you next time! Ja!^_^ 


	4. The Invaders' New Leader!

Author's Note: I know it's been a while since I last wrote..sorry for the long wait! Anyway, sorry again I say to Conquest Rion for being undescriptive. I'll try harder next time, but I'm really not that good at descriptions. And thanks to Shar-dono for alerting me of some Japanese mistakes! And also thanks to all for your reviews. Hopefully, they'll help me in my quest to write better fanfics. Just in case you need to know, Akio looks pretty much like Tamahome from Fushigi Yuugi. If anyone's interested enough, e-mail me if you want to see Akio's picture. Oh and one more thing, I wanted to remove the Gatekeepers song because the information there is now irrelevant to the actual story here, but somehow I can't. So, just forget about it, ok? Enough chitchat! Let's get the show on the road!  
  
Disclaimer: If I actually owned Gatekeepers, you think I'd bother to write this damned fanfic???!!!  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Akio, then, slowly approached his black dagger that had landed on the pavement after bursting through the invader's accursed body. He reached for it, wiped a bit of dust off with his coat and placed it back into its black sheath emblazoned with golden runes.  
  
"Naze, Akio?! (Why, Akio?!)" Ukiya suddenly raised his voice.  
  
Akio paused slightly, then turned around to face Ukiya and the others. He had an expressionless look on his face that masked all his thoughts and emotions from them.  
  
"Naze?" Ukiya repeated again, "Why are you the black Gatekeeper?!"  
  
There was a momentary silence as a sudden cold gust of wind blew.  
  
Akio bent his head down a little, perhaps to conceal his face from them and finally spoke. "Guess I can't hide it from you any longer."  
  
"Demo." Akio suddenly looked at them with determination in his eyes such as they've never seen in him before. "I won't give up without a fight!" He unsheathed his dagger and brandished it in front of him menacingly.  
  
"Minna (Everybody)," Ukiya said to them without facing away from Akio, "We'll have to fight him."  
  
But before he could move, an arm shot out and grabbed him by the arm.  
  
"Ukiya-kun Sempai! Are you sure you want to do this?!" Kaoru tugged at his arm, "He was your friend!"  
  
"Iie, Kaoru-chan," Ukiya shook off her hand, "He is no longer a friend.he is our enemy!"  
  
THE INVADERS' NEW LEADER  
  
Black clouds started to appear above the horizons, blocking the sun from view. One by one, drops of rain started to patter on to the ground below. Lightning flashed across the sky and the distant rumble of thunder could be heard. Trees helplessly swayed to and fro, blown mercilessly by the strong wind.  
  
Six people were standing on the street below, unperturbed by the harsh weather. Five of them were in a group, whereas the other one was standing alone.  
  
And so, they waited. Waiting for the other to land the first blow. Waiting for the other to strike fiercely. Waiting for the other to make his first move.  
  
But that never came to pass, until one of the five suddenly yelled out over the tumult of the thunder.  
  
"Akio-san! It'd be better for all of us if you'd just surrender yourself!"  
  
Thus, the dark figure replied back. "Never, Ukiya! Even if you used to be my friend, I still will not just give myself up like that!"  
  
"Very well, then. Though it is against our will, we'll have to fight you."  
  
"So be it!"  
  
Ukiya, then, charged headlong towards Akio, with his bouken raised high above his head.  
  
"Ultra Whirlwind Slash!!!"  
  
The bouken sliced through the air in a wide arc.but had hit nothing more than that.  
  
"Eh?!"  
  
Suddenly, Ukiya caught a glimpse of Akio right next to him.  
  
In a furious rage, Ukiya slashed again and again at Akio with his bouken, only to be effortlessly evaded by Akio. On his final blow, Akio jumped high into the air, then rushed down at Ukiya with his dagger.  
  
"Ukiya-kun Sempai!!!"  
  
Kaoru shoved Ukiya aside and they both landed on the cold, hard concrete pavement. Akio cursed under his breath when his dagger missed its mark.  
  
"Gate Open!!!" Bancho opened his gate and rushed at Akio, "Prepare to face the wrath of the heroic Gate Super!!!"  
  
Bancho threw a powerful punch at Akio's face.but found that Akio's hand had blocked it. Akio held Bancho's hand tightly, ignoring the writhing pain shown clearly on Bancho's face. "AAAARGH!!!" Bancho screamed in agony as he slumped down to the ground, unable to fight back the immense pain.  
  
Finally, Akio released his grip and Bancho fell kneeling on to the wet ground.  
  
"Don't move!"  
  
Akio looked around and saw Ruriko with an arrow trained on him.  
  
Akio narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, then took a step forward towards her.  
  
"I.I'm warning you!"  
  
Another step.  
  
She released the arrow and it sailed through the air, a glowing projectile. Akio merely had to bend his head to dodge it.  
  
But suddenly, in mid-air, the arrow turned around and speared ahead towards the unsuspecting Akio.  
  
"Ergh!" The arrow had impaled itself through his stomach.  
  
Akio cringed in pain as he saw the tip of the arrow protruding from his stomach, bringing forth a stream of crimson blood that flowed freely from his wound to the ground till it formed a small pool of blood.  
  
"Kosovo!" he cursed under his breath.  
  
Akio held the arrow tightly with one hand and with one mighty tug, he managed to pull out the accursed arrow, spattering more blood on to the pavement. By now, the pool of blood had mixed with the rainwater and was now a murky red color.  
  
He threw the arrow aside. He staggered a bit as he tried to walk away from them.  
  
"It's my turn!" Fei suddenly jumped out of nowhere and opened her gate of Red-hot.  
  
"Fire Dragon!!!" A raging blaze of flames rose through from the gate, ignoring the relentless rain pouring down on to it.  
  
Akio seemed stunned by the sight of the majestic fire dragon as it rose into the air.  
  
"Kosovo." he cursed under his breath again.  
  
The fire dragon then dived down straight towards him, resulting in a massive blazing inferno that heated up the dim surroundings for a brief moment.  
  
When the explosion cleared up, they at least expected to see his body lying on the ground, but instead.  
  
.he was gone.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Ukiya-kun, did you tell Shirei yet about Akio?" Ruriko asked as they were walking to school together the next day.  
  
"Huh?" Ukiya got out of his trance, "Oh.yeah."  
  
After that, they were silent for a while.  
  
"Shirei said that Akio is probably still alive. He might have escaped using his black Gate. Either way, we have to be on the lookout for him and the invaders."  
  
"Demo.he is our friend," Ruriko started to say.  
  
"Was our friend."  
  
"Even so, we should give him a chance!" Ruriko argued.  
  
"Chance?! It's too late for that now! He's already a black Gatekeeper!" Ukiya retorted back.  
  
"I was one, too! And I changed back!"  
  
"That was different!"  
  
"What do you mean 'different'?! As far as I can see, there is still hope for Akio!"  
  
"You're still arguing about that when you're the one that shot an arrow through his stomach!"  
  
Ukiya realized his error when he saw that Ruriko was nearly in tears.  
  
"Rurippe.g-gomen nasai! I didn't mean to."  
  
"I couldn't help it. I didn't do it on purpose," said Ruriko aloud to herself, ignoring Ukiya's apology, "I.I didn't know what to do."  
  
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw it was Ukiya's. "Ukiya-kun."  
  
"Rurippe.people change. I know it's hard for you to accept it.but Akio's changed. He is no longer the Akio we used to know, the Akio we used to play with, the Akio we thought we knew so well. We have to face the reality~He is the black Gatekeeper now."  
  
"I.I guess you're right.G-gomen nasai!"  
  
"It's alright.Rurippe."  
  
A brief moment of peace.  
  
"I thought I told you not to call me that again!!!"  
  
"SMACK!!!"  
  
"WHAM!!!"  
  
"KA-BLAM!!!"  
  
"AAAAARGH!!!"  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
As Ukiya, Ruriko, Kaoru, Fei and Bancho were walking along one of the many corridors in the school, they noticed a large crowd of girls gathering around a table.  
  
"What's going on over there?" Bancho raised an eyebrow.  
  
"We will never find out if we don't check it out," said Ukiya as he headed for the crowd of girls, "C'mon! Let's go!"  
  
When they managed to push themselves forward through the crowd, they saw two guys playing poker on the table. One of them had silver platinum- colored hair slicked back in a ponytail. Clearly, the girls were siding on him.  
  
The other guys didn't seem bothered by this fact.  
  
"You can never beat this!" he said triumphantly with a smirk on his face, "Four of a Kind!" He placed down a 3 of Hearts, 3 of Spades, 3 of Clubs, 3 of Diamonds and 7 of Spades.  
  
The silver-haired guy's cool composure didn't waver even for a second.  
  
"Interesting.but I'm afraid I'm the one winning this round," he said with a sly grin, "Royal Flush!" He placed down a 10 of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds, Queen of Diamonds, King of Diamonds and A of Diamonds.  
  
The girls cheered with joy. "Retsui! You're the best at poker!"  
  
The poor guy looked helplessly as Retsui took away all the money he had so carelessly gambled. The guy banged his fist on the table angrily, and then went off in a huff.  
  
"So.anyone else up for a nice game of poker?" Retsui asked as he shuffled the deck of cards.  
  
Suddenly, Ukiya went over to Retsui. "I will."  
  
Retsui smiled. "What a pleasant surprise?! Well if it isn't the guy everyone's been talking about, Shun Ukiya!"  
  
Ukiya blushed a little. "Well.not really."  
  
"It doesn't matter," said Retsui as he dealt the cards, "C'mon! Let's see who'll win this time!"  
  
Ruriko went over to Ukiya and whispered to him in his ear.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?! Are you going to gamble your money for a stupid game of poker???!!!"  
  
"Don't worry! I won't lose!" Ukiya assured her with a smile.  
  
Ruriko gave up and went back to the others to watch the game.  
  
After discarding some cards, calling and raising bets, it was time for them to show their hands.  
  
"Straight Flush!" Ukiya dropped down a 2 of Hearts, 3 of Hearts, 4 of Hearts, 5 of Hearts and 6 of Hearts with a broad smile on his face.  
  
He was about to take away all the bets they had made when Retsui stopped him.  
  
"Hold on a sec! I haven't shown my hand yet," said Retsui as he dropped down a 10 of Spades, Jack of Spades, Queen of Spades, King of Spades and A of Spades, "Hai, hai! Look's like I got a Royal Flush again!"  
  
Ukiya gaped in astonishment as the crowd went wild.  
  
"Gomen nasai," Retsui said as he took all the bets in the pot, "Another round?"  
  
"Err.no thanks!" said Ukiya as he started to leave the table, "I've got some stuff to do."  
  
Actually, he had no more money to bet. He had bet all his savings on that game!  
  
As Ukiya approached the others, Ruriko was about to say something when Ukiya interrupted. "Don't tell me 'I told you so'."  
  
"Okay," said Ruriko, "But it was very foolish of you to gamble all your savings like that!"  
  
"I thought he couldn't beat that hand!" Ukiya tried to defend himself, "How was I supposed to know he'd get another Royal Flush?!"  
  
"Look's like you won't be able to buy anything from the cafeteria for sometime."  
  
"Ukiya-kun Sempai!" Kaoru tugged on his arm, "Don't worry! I'll cook food for you everyday!"  
  
"Honto ni? (Really?) Wow, arigato gozaimasu!"  
  
"I really think you shouldn't Kaoru-chan," Ruriko glared at her with disapproval, "He should suffer himself from his foolishness."  
  
"Urusai(Shut up)," said Ukiya and Kaoru in unison.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Is everyone here?" Shirei asked as he peered through his sunglasses at the people around the large, circular table.  
  
"Hai!(Yes!)" replied Ukiya, acting as taicho (captain).  
  
Shirei nodded his head in approval. "Good. Now, the reason I gathered you all here now is because."  
  
Suddenly, the screen at the back of him showed a huge, abandoned warehouse and a number of dark figures were entering it.  
  
"We have received reports from AEGIS intelligence that a large number of invaders were seen gathering at the warehouse you see on the screen. The reason.we still do not know, but I suspect that it may be a briefing from their leader."  
  
Ukiya expected some reaction from Ruriko, but other than bending her head down a little, there was none.  
  
"So, your mission is to go there and find out what are they up to. I know it is most likely a trap, but you'll have to risk it," then the Shirei did his favorite hand pose, " For the sake of humanity, go and eradicate those invaders! Gatekeepers!"  
  
"Ryokai, AEGIS!"  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"It seems deserted here." Fei commented as she inspected a nearby stack of dusty crates.  
  
"I wonder where are all the invaders." Kaoru looked around at the huge warehouse.  
  
"They might be anywhere," said Ukiya, "Well, let's split up! We'll meet back at the entrance in 10 minutes!"  
  
"Ryokai, AEGIS!"  
  
As they all set off in different directions.they did not notice a dark figure watching them.  
  
Ruriko took cautious footsteps as she walked along a small path lined with large crates and boxes. She began to get the feeling that something or someone was following her.  
  
Suddenly, she froze as a pile of crates suddenly tumbled down on to the floor noisily. What was that? She went over to inspect and gave a huge sigh of relief. It was only a rat that had accidentally made the crates unstable. She was so relieved, that she had forgotten how afraid she was of rats.  
  
But then, she heard an ominous sound from behind her. What was that? Was it another rat? No.it can't be. Rats don't make that kind of sound. Maybe it was just her imagination.  
  
Or maybe not.  
  
"I have been waiting for you.Ruriko Ikusawa.."  
  
Ruriko gasped as she turned around to see a dark figure approaching her.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED.  
  
Author's Note: Now, I really am not sure whether kosovo is Japanese for 'damn'. It sure sounds like it on TV. If it's wrong, please tell me and I'll fix it. Okay, so how was it? Give me feedback by reviewing my story, please! I thank you again for reading this. Till next time, ja! 


	5. Cherry Blossoms

Author's Note: Konnichi wa! It's been quite a while since my last chapter.(had to study for my final exams. Phew! Glad that's over ^^) Anyway, here comes the disclaimer.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gatekeepers. 'Nuff said.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
From the deep shadows cast by the stacks of crates, a woman in flowing black garments that seemed to be made out of the shadow itself appeared. Wearing a pair of spectacles that glinted off a stray glow of sunlight that had somehow managed to sneak in through a crack in one of the blackened windows, her dark hair was tied into two ponytails.  
  
Ruriko recognized her instantly. "Megumi-chan?! What are you doing here?"  
  
Megumi chuckled softly. "Well, isn't that obvious? Why are you here? Answer that question and you'll know why I'm here."  
  
"Don't tell me you're still with the invaders!" said Ruriko, once she put two and two together, "Kageyama used you just as a tool last time! And so are the invaders!"  
  
"Kageyama has nothing to do with the invaders anymore," said Megumi in a triumphant tone, "On the contrary, I'm using the invaders and not the other way round."  
  
She approached Ruriko, slowly. "I won't lose to you anymore. I'll be the best in the end. Everyone will then say so."  
  
"For once, can't you think about anything else other than trying to be better than me?! I'm sick and tired of you! If you really want to be the best, then leave your selfish ways and work hard to be the best!" said Ruriko.  
  
"Oh, but I am," said Megumi with a sly smile, "I'm working very hard...to get rid of you!"  
  
"Shadow Edge!"  
  
CHERRY BLOSSOMS  
  
At such close range, it was a wonder Megumi's attack missed Ruriko. But that's because Ukiya had caught Ruriko in a rugby tackle, pushing her away from the dark shadow blades.  
  
"Daijobu ka? (Are you okay?)" Ukiya asked Ruriko in a worried tone.  
  
Ruriko got up with some help from Ukiya. "I'm fine."  
  
The rest of the group had come as well.  
  
"What happened?" asked Kaoru.  
  
"Aiaiai! It's Megumi!" Fei exclaimed, pointing at Megumi.  
  
Megumi seemed amused. "How nice! Now the whole group is here!" She whistled as if a signal for something.  
  
Out of the floor, invaders appeared! Or were they invaders? Clad in black ninja-like costumes, their faces were made out of pure darkness and they had two bright glowing red eyes that shone like gimlets. Each of them had a short, dark blade at their side.  
  
"Nani?! What are those things?!" exclaimed Ukiya.  
  
"Who cares?" said Bancho, "Let's bust them up!"  
  
"Allow me to introduce the new type of invaders," said Megumi, amused at the sight of their puzzled faces, "These new invaders will be your death!"  
  
"Attack!!!"  
  
With astonishing speed, the invaders lunged towards the Gatekeepers.  
  
"Gate Open!" said Fei, "Fire Dragon!"  
  
A blaze of fire in the form of a long dragon burst forth from her gate and rushed out to destroy the invaders. However, many invaders were able to avoid its onslaught. Only a few unlucky ones were destroyed.  
  
"Argh!!!" one of the invaders groaned as its body was torn apart by the raging fire. But instead of dematerializing into a green crystal, it just fell down to the ground.  
  
"Eh?" said a confused Ukiya.  
  
"They're fast!" said Fei.  
  
"But not as fast as me!" said Kaoru as she ran forward with all the speed she could muster, "Kaoru Punch!!!"  
  
A row of invaders were knocked off their feet and fell to the ground with a sickening crunch as black blood spattered on to Kaoru's shirt.  
  
"Blood?" said Kaoru as she examined her stained shirt.  
  
"Kaoru! Look out!"  
  
Kaoru turned around and saw an invader rushing towards her with its blade outstretched. Suddenly, Bancho leaped in and landed a powerful punch at its stomach. It groaned and crumpled to the ground.  
  
Meanwhile, Ruriko was trying to defend herself from the attacks of the invaders. For some reason, she seemed to be their main target. One of their blades nearly sliced through her, but grazed her shoulder instead. Warm blood trickled slowly from the wound. The sight of the blood seemed to infuse the invaders with more determination.  
  
Just as she was getting cornered, Ukiya put himself between her and the invaders.  
  
The invaders ignored him and knocked him aside. Ukiya got smashed against a wall and fell down. Ignoring the intense pain, he got up and with some difficulty, confronted the invaders again.  
  
"Come and get me!!!" he yelled to them.  
  
The invaders turned their attention to him and decided he was a much better target. They all rushed towards him, eager to draw more blood from him.  
  
Gathering all his energy, Ukiya released his power with all his might.  
  
"Ultra Whirlwind Slash!!!"  
  
The invaders didn't expect such an unexpected burst of devastating power from him. The blades of wind sliced through their body and tore them apart mercilessly. In the end, only Ukiya and the others were standing.  
  
Megumi clapped her hands. "Impressive. You have improved much. But that was only a warm-up."  
  
"Gate Open!" Megumi opened her corrupted gate, "Shadow Bind!"  
  
Suddenly, long wispy tentacles made of shadow crept up from the ground and started to bind the Gatekeepers in a strong hold.  
  
"Kore wa nan desu ka?! (What is this?!)" said Ukiya as he tried to whack the tentacles with his bouken.  
  
But the bouken just went through the tentacles as if it was just a plain shadow.  
  
"Uso! (This can't be! [literally, it means 'lie'])" said Ukiya as he tried in vain to hit the elusive tentacle.  
  
Only Ruriko wasn't bound up by the tentacles.  
  
"Hold on, guys!" she yelled at them, "I'll try to free you!"  
  
"It's useless," said Megumi, "You can't do anything for them."  
  
The tentacles started to strangle them.  
  
"Megumi-chan, don't do it!" pleaded Ruriko, "They'll die if you do that."  
  
"Well, duh! That's the whole point!"  
  
"Please, Megumi. Stop it!"  
  
"And what if I said no?"  
  
"Then I'll stop you!" Ruriko took out her bow and aimed her arrow straight at Megumi's chest.  
  
Megumi chuckled. "You don't have the guts to do it."  
  
"Damare. (Shut up.)"  
  
"You wouldn't want to stain your dainty little hands with my blood, do you?"  
  
"Damare!"  
  
"You're just worthless! You can't even save your own friends!"  
  
"Damare! Damare!!! DAMARE!!!" she released the arrow and it flew straight towards Megumi, only to be deflected by a shadow barrier around her.  
  
"Useless!" Megumi hissed as she opened her black gate, ready to deal a deathblow at Ruriko.  
  
"Oi, Megumi!" a voice said from the darkness.  
  
Megumi stopped for a moment, looking around for the person who said that. "Who's there?! Show yourself!"  
  
"Have you forgotten?" said that someone as he stepped into the light, "We have a little score to settle."  
  
Ruriko turned around and saw a man wearing a dark red t-shirt and black trousers. A long black coat covered him, though his hands did not go through its sleeves. And a piece of red cloth was tied around his forehead.  
  
"Akio?!"  
  
"You again?!" said Megumi.  
  
"I'm here to kill you, Megumi."  
  
Megumi snorted. "You wish!"  
  
Akio took a step forward towards Megumi. "I suggest you stop wasting time and just accept your fate."  
  
"Well I suggest you stop right there!" threatened Megumi, "If not, I'll kill your friends over here," she pointed at Ukiya and the others bound up by the tentacles.  
  
Akio just gave a sly smile. "Like I give a damn."  
  
And he continued walking towards her.  
  
Surprised that her threat did not work, she summoned forth three more invaders to attack him.  
  
The invaders rushed towards Akio as he just kept walking towards Megumi.  
  
Just as they reached within a meter's length of him, a blade flashed out and sliced them in two.  
  
"Typical of you to send your underlings to do all the dirty work for you."  
  
Megumi was slightly angered by that remark. "If you really want to fight me, then take this!!!"  
  
She released a ball of black energy at Akio. He easily avoided it, then rushed at Megumi. He slashed at her, but she teleported out of the way. This repeated many times, till she countered with her Shadow Bind attack.  
  
The tentacles caught Akio and he was unable to move. Megumi followed that up with her Shadow Edge attack. But then, suddenly, only Akio's coat was there.  
  
Megumi paused in hesitation. Akio took the chance and delivered a flurry of blows at her that she did not expect. Then, he landed a final uppercut at her jaw that sent her flying to the other side.  
  
Thinking she was unconscious, he retrieved his coat and approached her body. But then, she teleported above just as he was about to slice her throat.  
  
"Not bad," said Megumi, "But this is where the fight ends. Shadow Blast!!!"  
  
Akio could not avoid the beam. It smashed him through one of the walls and he lay there unconscious.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Meanwhile, Ukiya was trying to free himself from the tentacles, but in vain.  
  
"It's no use," said Fei, "You can't hit a shadow."  
  
Ukiya thought for a while, and he got a bright idea. "Shadow can't exist with light! Ruriko, maybe you attack could destroy it."  
  
"I'll try."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Floating in mid-air, Megumi heaved a sigh of relief as the battle finished. But she sighed to soon.  
  
Suddenly, she felt something go through her back and come out through her front. She looked down and saw that it was the end of a bouken.  
  
"K'so(Damn you!)" she said as she released one last blast at Ukiya.  
  
"Argh!" groaned Ukiya as he fell down to the ground.  
  
Quite suddenly, Megumi laughed. "That was a good one, Ukiya. Though I expected better from you."  
  
She then looked at Ruriko with anger in her eyes. "Mark my words. I will have my revenge!"  
  
She then vanished into the black gate.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Daijobu ka, Ukiya?" Ruriko asked as he tried to get up.  
  
"My head hurts.but nothing serious," was his reply.  
  
"Ne, what do we do with this guy?" Kaoru asked, pointing at the unconscious Akio.  
  
But then, he groaned and got up. When he saw them gathered around him, he quickly backed away from them.  
  
"Guess we're still enemies, huh?" said Akio as he turned his back on them and started to walk away, "Then, I'll just be going."  
  
"Matte!(Wait!)" said Ruriko.  
  
Akio stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Nan desu ka?"  
  
"How's your wound?"  
  
"Wound?"  
  
"The one on your stomach. The one I made, remember?"  
  
"Oh, that. It's gone."  
  
He resumed walking, but then stopped again. This time he didn't turn around to face them. "A word of advice, Ruriko."  
  
"Eh?"  
  
He turned his face around. "Never sympathize with the enemy."  
  
"But you're not our enemy!!! Would an enemy come to his enemy's rescue?!"  
  
"."  
  
"You saved us twice already! I don't think that's what you call an enemy!"  
  
"Like I said just now. I don't give a damn. As for those so-called rescues, I was just fighting Megumi and those invaders she made, lousy invaders I may add. And you guys were just in our way."  
  
"What about our promise?"  
  
"What promise?"  
  
"You forgot that, too didn't you?"  
  
"Speaking of that," Akio produced something small from his pocket and threw it at Ruriko. She caught it in her hands and saw that it was a small bronze coin choker.  
  
"Keep it," said Akio," I don't deserve it anymore."  
  
With that, he slipped through the shadows like a breeze.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Late that evening, Ruriko was in her room, studying for the coming exams. Just then, her attention turned to the choker Akio had given her just now. She looked at it hard. It brought back memories.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
A young Ukiya and Ruriko were facing each other.  
  
"When are you leaving?" asked Ukiya.  
  
"Next week," replied Ruriko.  
  
"Shun, we're leaving" called out a voice.  
  
"Coming, Mum!"  
  
He was about to go but then.  
  
"Matte (Wait)," said Ruriko.  
  
"Actually I...I've always.." she clutched the dinosaur toy that Ukiya had given her earlier, "Loved you!" (special effect-echo)  
  
"Gomen ne, Rurippe," said Ukiya, "But I like Miyo. She doesn't snivel like you."  
  
Ruriko was very upset, since she had loved Ukiya all this while and yet, he doesn't like her. She cried (sniveled) and ran away.  
  
Ukiya did not expect this sudden outburst. He felt bad, but there was nothing he could do, he was already leaving.  
  
Ruriko ran and ran till she felt extremely tired. But she didn't care. She didn't care where she was running. She didn't care how tired she was. She just didn't care anymore. All she knew was that Ukiya didn't like her. And that gave her little comfort.  
  
She reached the park and saw a bench there under a cherry blossom tree. No one was on the bench. A boy, however, was sitting under the tree, reading a really thick book. Wiping her tears away, she brought herself to the bench and sat on it, watching the cherry blossoms fall down one by one.  
  
At first, the boy didn't see Ruriko there. But then, he heard her footsteps and looked up. "What's wrong, Ruriko?"  
  
"Nani mo (Nothing)," was her reply as she sat down on the bench.  
  
The boy closed his book and looked at Ruriko closely. "You've been crying."  
  
It was more of a statement than a question. Nevertheless, she just nodded her head.  
  
"Doshite? (Why?)" he asked.  
  
"Ukiya.he.he," she started to say, "He said he liked Miyo better than me."  
  
She burst into tears again. "Just because he thinks I'm a sniveler..sniff.sniff.he doesn't like me!"  
  
"Am I really that awful?" she asked the boy.  
  
"Ie (No)," said the boy as he leaned himself on the tree trunk.  
  
"Then why doesn't Ukiya like me?"  
  
"He just said he didn't like you. But what he meant was."  
  
"What?"  
  
"He likes you."  
  
"I'm confused."  
  
"It's called reverse psychology. One says the exact opposite of what he means, so that the one listening will understand what he actually meant."  
  
"But what if the one listening thinks what he's saying is what he means?"  
  
"That's the tough part. That's why we just need to believe in what he means."  
  
"Believe in what he means?"  
  
"Do you believe Ukiya really doesn't like you?"  
  
"Well.I.I don't think so."  
  
"Then, trust him that he really likes you."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For cheering me up."  
  
"I was just trying to help. That's all."  
  
There was a momentary silence as they watched the cherry blossoms slowly fall to the ground.  
  
"So, when are you moving?" asked the boy.  
  
"Next week."  
  
"Same here."  
  
"I wish we could all meet someday."  
  
"The odds are low, but I hope so, too."  
  
"Hey! Why don't we make a promise?"  
  
"Promise?"  
  
"Yeah! Let's promise that when we get the chance, we'll come back here to this tree!"  
  
"With no exact time, the odds of us meeting each other are extremely low."  
  
"It doesn't matter. At least, we'll know that one of us was here already."  
  
"I guess. But what about Ukiya?"  
  
"I'll tell him about the promise if I meet him. You, too, okay?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Then it's a promise then!"  
  
"I guess."  
  
"Oh, wait!" Ruriko took something out from her pocket. It was a small bronze coin choker. "Here."  
  
"What's this for?"  
  
"You might look different when you're older. If you keep that, I'll know it's you when I see you."  
  
"How am I supposed to recognize you, then?"  
  
"I'll wear my yellow bow on my hair."  
  
"Fair enough," the boy kept the choker in his pocket.  
  
*End flashback*  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Ruriko approached the cherry blossom tree. It was still standing there, after all these years. And so was the bench. It was nearly night and it was getting cold.  
  
Just then, she saw someone sitting under the tree. She approached the person slowly.  
  
The man looked up and saw her. She saw who it was and wasn't shocked at all. It was Akio.  
  
She sat down on the bench, exactly where she sat down more than ten years ago.  
  
"You're not gonna kill me, are you?" she said.  
  
"Ie. I'm not in the mood," he replied, "Besides, you're not my enemy. AEGIS is."  
  
"But why do you hate AEGIS so much?"  
  
"Hate? No, I do not hate AEGIS. I'm scared of them."  
  
"Scared?"  
  
"Scared of being prejudiced. Scared of being accused. Scared of being hunted down like a mangy dog. Yes, I'm scared of AEGIS."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"You will, someday."  
  
"You remembered our promise, didn't you?" Ruriko changed the topic.  
  
"Ie. I just happened to be resting under this tree, when you came along," replied Akio.  
  
Ruriko smiled at hearing his stubborn denial. "The cherry blossoms are really pretty tonight."  
  
"Ee, so desu ne. (Yes, that's right.)" said Akio as a cherry blossom floated down on to the palm of his hand. "Demo, everything that's alive and cheerful will one day wither and die in grief." He crushed the cherry blossom in his hand to show emphasis.  
  
Ruriko smiled. "That's why we have to live our life to the fullest and enjoy life."  
  
"Which I cannot do," said Akio as he got up to leave.  
  
"Akio.you've changed."  
  
"Plato once said that the only thing constant in this world is change."  
  
Ruriko tried to stifle a giggle.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"Nothing. But do you still quote lines from books like last time?"  
  
"Sometimes."  
  
"It's getting late," Ruriko looked at her watch, "I have to go now."  
  
"Ja sayonara!"  
  
"Ja sayonara!  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Back home, Ruriko was wondering why her house was so dark, not even one light was on.  
  
"That's odd," she thought to herself, "Otosan and okasan can't have gone to bed already."  
  
Not wanting to disturb her parents in case they were sleeping early, she opened the front door using her own key. Once inside, the house felt quiet, too quiet.  
  
"Otosan! Okasan!" she called her parents, but there was no reply.  
  
She went into the living room but no one was there.  
  
"Otosan! Okasan!" she called again as she went into the dining room. "Otosan! Oka."  
  
What she saw nearly gave her a heart attack. Blood was painted all over the walls. The room was in complete disarray. Tables were overturned and food was all over the floor. But worst of all, she saw her parents on the floor with pools of blood forming under them. Their internal organs seemed to be ripped apart from their bodies and were neatly arranged next to them.  
  
"Uso!" Ruriko said in disbelief as she dropped down to her knees, "Uso!!! USO!!!"  
  
TO BE CONTINUED.  
  
Author's Note: Please send in some reviews. I'd really appreciate it if you did. I need all the help I can get to make this fanfic good! Till next time, ja ne! ^^ 


	6. Light of Hope

Author's Note: Phew! It's been a long while since my last chapter! ^_^ Anyways, thanks for all the reviews you all sent me! Okay, now for today's episode.  
  
Disclaimer: No, I still don't own Gatekeepers. *sigh*  
  
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Dark, gray clouds filled the sky with their gloominess. No longer puffs of white cotton-like forms, they were as black as the night, bearing a burden they could no longer hold. A stroke of lightning flashed, then all havoc was loose. The rain poured out from the heavens to the ground below. Thunder and lightning clashed with one another, a raging tumult deafening to the ears. A huge storm was brewing at the graveyard.  
  
There, all clad in black, was Ruriko. She clutched her coat tightly, as the wind started to blow mercilessly. The wind howled in anguish. The dead, leafless trees trembled in fear. The yellowing leaves left on the ground untouched, were now swept up in a gust of wind and hurled in all directions, scattering them around the place, only to be blown again.  
  
Ruriko ignored the rain. She ignored the storm. She ignored the wind. For tonight, she wanted only to mourn over the loss of her parents. The funeral was already over, but there she still stood, hardly daring to believe her parents are gone.  
  
Tears rolled down her cheeks, merging with the raindrops that fell on her face, as she looked longingly at her parents' grave. Why did they have to die? Why?  
  
Her thoughts were then interrupted by footsteps behind her. She slowly turned around. Ukiya?  
  
Ukiya was there, holding an umbrella in his left hand and a bouquet of flowers in his right. But Ruriko noticed something was missing---his warm, comforting smile---just what she needed now in times of grief. But he bore none, except a grim expression.  
  
Ukiya slowly walked up to her parents' grave and placed the flowers upon it. He then turned around to meet Ruriko's gaze. She couldn't bear it any longer. This feeling of sorrow. This feeling of helplessness. She jumped into Ukiya's open arms and cried her heart out, knowing he would give her some comfort. Ukiya smiled weakly, hugging her tightly, he wept quietly as well. The umbrella was left unattended on the wet ground.  
  
~~~A LIGHT OF HOPE~~~  
  
The storm out there was slowly calming down as the rain started to fade to a drizzle. Ruriko came into her room, wet and depressed, and flung herself on to her bed, bursting into tears. How would life be like, now that her parents were gone? It'd be so lonely---only her living in this huge house.  
  
She tried to calm herself down and maintain a cool head. It was hard though, considering she just lost two of her loved ones. Slowly, she got up and took a small photo frame that was on her chest-of-drawers. She gazed at it for a while. It was a picture of her and her parents, taken during a holiday in Hokkaido. She'd never forget that day. Neither will she forget her parents who did so much for her. And so, she spent a sleepless night turning all her memories of her parents over and over in her mind.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Ukiya, however, was walking down a dark alleyway---a shortcut to his house. He was silent the whole way, not knowing what to think of all this. He then thought of the item he had found at the scene of the crime before the police arrived. Should he have given it to them? No. What can they do? This is a personal matter.  
  
"Hey!" His thoughts were cut short by a call from above. He looked up in wonder and saw a dark figure stooped on the roof. The silhouette jumped down from above, landing on the ground in front of Ukiya on his feet, like a stalking cat.  
  
"Akio," Ukiya thought to himself in enmity.  
  
There was a tense silence before either of them spoke.  
  
"So," Akio broke the monotonous silence, "I heard Ruriko's parents just died."  
  
Still no reply from Ukiya, who only gave a piercing look at him.  
  
"How is she?"  
  
Ukiya slowly stepped forward toward Akio. "Not so good. But I'll fix that--- ."  
  
Suddenly, without warning, he stabbed Akio's left hand with a short blade. Akio staggered back. Blood flowed freely from his wound. He cringed in pain.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked in contempt, as he pulled out the blade that had wounded him. Then, he recognized that the blade was his own.  
  
"It's your blade, isn't it?" said Ukiya, he then paused before adding, "I found it at the place of Ruriko's parents' death, smeared with blood."  
  
He then took out his bouken. "I'll never forgive you! Shinku Missuail!" A blast of wind shot out at Akio. Akio jumped aside to dodge the shot and then, ran deeper into the alley.  
  
"Oi! Matte!" Ukiya yelled as he gave chase after him, sending out a volley of 'vacuum missiles'.  
  
Each of the shot hit the bare ground, throwing up asphalt and dirt that shattered on impact. Still Akio kept running, though his newly acquired injury proved to hinder his escape. Blood dripped to the ground, leaving a trail of fresh blood for Ukiya to pick out.  
  
Akio halted as he found that he could not go on. It was a dead end. He turned around to see a furious Ukiya sending out one huge 'vacuum missile' at him. It hit the ground right in front of Akio, sending up a waft of dust and asphalt that hindered his vision.  
  
Quite suddenly, before Akio could recover himself, Ukiya rushed forward through the dust, his right hand clenched and outstretched. He threw a punch at Akio's face. Akio, who had had enough of this, took the chance of attacking back. Using Ukiya's momentum as he rushed towards Akio, Akio held his good hand right in front of Ukiya's stomach and Ukiya undoubtedly crashed into his hand. He doubled over in pain. With one last punch, Akio fell Ukiya to the ground.  
  
Before Ukiya could catch his breath and get up, Akio flashed his dagger at his throat. Ukiya hardly dare to breathe lest the foul blade caressed his neck. There was a tense silence again, broken only by Akio's heavy breathing and the dripping sound of blood.  
  
"No," Akio pulled away his blade, "Ruriko has suffered enough already as it is."  
  
With one last look at Ukiya, he fled into the shadows like a breeze.  
  
Ukiya lifted his head and winced in pain---his stomach had an ugly bruise on it. He smeared the warm blood that was dripping from his temples, cursing his ill luck. Not only had he given away the blade, but also left Akio alive. "K'so!"  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
The next day, in school, Ukiya entered the classroom, with an extra band- aid on his forehead. He headed toward the others who were already there. "Hi!"  
  
Kaoru, on hearing Ukiya's voice, whirled around to say hi, accidentally hitting Ukiya's stomach in the process. Ukiya fell down and groaned in pain.  
  
"Ukiya sempai! Are you all right?" Kaoru went to his side with a worried look on her face, "Did I hit you? I'm so sorry!"  
  
"It's okay," Ukiya managed a forced smile, "It's nothi-OW!!!" He tried to get up, but it only worsened his condition.  
  
"Ukiya-kun, you shouldn't move around much! You seem really hurt!" Ruriko expressed her concern as well.  
  
"I'm telling you. I'm fine!" Ukiya still persisted.  
  
"Ne, Ruriko," Kaoru turned toward her, "Use your gate to heal him or something."  
  
"I said I'm okay already!!!" Ukiya bellowed. He wasn't feeling very good after the fight last night and he didn't fell like getting fussed over a stupid wound.  
  
The others were a little shocked by this sudden outburst. But they had little time to wonder for Miss Ochiai's voice called them to the HQ over the school intercom.  
  
"Well, there's our cue! Meet you all in the base," Ukiya hurriedly went off.  
  
The others looked at one another. "Did you notice something odd about Ukiya today?" Ruriko asked.  
  
"He seemed angry," replied Fei.  
  
"I hope he's still not mad at me," Kaoru said repentantly.  
  
"I noticed he got an extra band-aid on his forehead," Bancho added, receiving a few glares from the others in response, "What? Something I said?"  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
"Nan desu ka, Shirei?" Ukiya asked, representing the whole group.  
  
"A weird signal has been detected in area B62579 just a few minutes ago. It only lasted for a few seconds. The signal was a bit different from past electrical signals detected before. I doubt you won't stumble upon that new type of invaders again, so be wary," Shirei briefed them about the mission.  
  
"If I might ask, where is this area?" Ruriko interrupted.  
  
"One of the halls in Ryurin University. From what I've heard, a seminar on biotechnology is being held there. So, you'll have to disguise as university students there," Shirei then hastily added, "Be very careful. We do not know what the invaders' new leader's objectives are. Now go!" Shirei did his favorite hand pose.  
  
"Ryoukai, AEGIS!" the Gatekeepers did the AEGIS salute.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Meanwhile, the seminar was just about to begin by the time they reached there. They quickly took some seats and kept an eye on any suspicious- looking characters, waiting for the invaders to strike.  
  
"Testing. Testing 1 2 3," the Master of Ceremony tested the microphone on stage. Satisfied that it was in perfect working order, he began his prepared speech, "Ladies and gentleman! I thank you all for coming to join this seminar on biotechnology! As you all very well know, the future of humankind lies not in any other fields of science but in the field of biotechnology!"  
  
Ukiya snorted. "This is gonna be a looooooooong day." He turned to see that Bancho had already fallen asleep.  
  
"Hey! Wake up!" If he was going to sit through all this boring talk on biotechnology, so should Bancho. Bancho grumbled as he woke up from his sleep.  
  
"Without further much ado, I invite Mr. Richard Lee, a renown biotechnology professor, to give you his speech!" Applause from the audience greeted the man as he walked up on to the stage. He was a tall man in a white suit. He had thin lips and dark, prominent eyebrows and also wore spectacles.  
  
"Greetings to all!" he flashed a bright smile, "I thank you all for inviting me to this seminar to talk about the one thing that really matters- --biotechnology! As you can see---."  
  
Ukiya was already about to doze off as the professor began to launch into his speech. If they had been looking carefully, they would have seen a dark figure hiding behind one of the pillars that supported the hall's ceiling.  
  
"The gatekeepers are here! What do I do?" he asked into what looked like a small communicator.  
  
"Just proceed with the plan. If they interfere, eliminate them!" the voice on the other end said. "This plan must not fail! Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes, sir!" he off the communicator, muttering to himself, "Easy for him to say---."  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
"Hey, you two! Wake up!" Ruriko shook Ukiya and Bancho from their slumber.  
  
"Huh? Wha? Where am I?"  
  
"Look what's happening!" Ruriko said.  
  
Ukiya rubbed his eyes and looked around. Everything seemed normal, except that some people were getting up from their seats and suddenly changing into---invaders!  
  
"Oh man! Not them again!" Ukiya took out his bouken and the others took out their weapons as well.  
  
The hall was already in chaos. Everyone fled as soon as they saw the invaders appear among them. But, the doors were locked from the outside. They were all trapped!  
  
"Bancho! Try breaking down the doors and evacuating the people. Ruriko, help him evacuate the people. Kaoru and Fei, come with me!" Ukiya barked out his commands before rushing into the midst of the invaders, his bouken outstretched.  
  
"Ultra Whirlwind Thrust!" A group of invaders were shred to pieces by the wind blades.  
  
Meanwhile, Bancho went over to the door that was blocking the entrance. "Stand aside!" Bancho charged headlong toward the door as everyone scrambled away from his path. With a crack, he broke the door clean off its hinges and the people rejoiced as they rushed out to safety.  
  
"This way, people! Everyone out!" Ruriko led them through the door. Before long, only the Gatekeepers and the invaders were left in the hall.  
  
"Fools! You let them escape!" a red invader, presumably the leader, bellowed.  
  
"Sorry, guys! But you'll have to pass through us first!" Ukiya and the others grouped themselves near the door.  
  
"Kill them!!!" the red invader glared at them, "Begin the fusion process!"  
  
The invaders then fused themselves into---a huge behemoth of a monster with four huge arms and two huge legs the size of tree trunks. It had one razor- sharp horn on its head and three glowing red eyes like rubies.  
  
It swiped the ground with its huge arm, causing the Gatekeepers to scatter.  
  
Ukiya, Ruriko and Fei kept it occupied with their various projectiles, but they don't seem to even damage the invader.  
  
Kaoru rushed toward the invader. "Kaoru Punch!" She landed a punch on its body, but to little effect.  
  
"Get out of the way!" Bancho had found a huge pillar that had dropped down earlier and threw it at the invader. The invader was pushed back by the impact and crashed against the wall throwing up dust into the air.  
  
"You did it, Bancho!" Ukiya said.  
  
But it was too early to rejoice, for the invader was still alive. It pushed the pillar away and slowly got up on its legs.  
  
"No way!" Ukiya said in disbelief. "Aiaiai!"  
  
Ruriko nock three arrows to her bow and took aim. "I bet one of those eyes are its weak point! Here goes nothing!" She let fly the arrows and they sailed toward their targets.  
  
Each one of them hit each one of its eyes, but it only caused the invader to be enraged. It stamped the ground in fury, causing a slight tremor that shook the Gatekeepers off their feet.  
  
"Perhaps we have to try a different approach," said Ukiya, "Ruriko come with me! We'll attack it from the back! The rest of you, keep the pressure up at the front!"  
  
The two then quickly stole away toward the back of the invader, who was busy fending off the blows of the others.  
  
"Now!" Ukiya and Ruriko unleashed their projectiles at its back. The invader seemed stunned for a second, and they got a glimpse of the weak point. "Again!" They unleashed their projectiles again at the weak point and the invader bellowed in pain, and then dematerialized into a shower of green crystals, and a small red crystal amongst them.  
  
"Phew! We did it!" Ukiya smiled to the others, "Let's go home!"  
  
They all then walked toward the gaping hole where the door once stood.  
  
"Coming, Ruriko?" Ukiya asked.  
  
Ruriko was staring at the pile of crystals on the ground. She turned around and nodded her head, slowly walking toward him.  
  
Suddenly, the red crystal floated in mid-air and the pile of green crystals began to materialize around it into black matter. Ruriko was unaware that the invader was reforming itself!  
  
Ukiya saw it first. "Ruriko, watch out!"  
  
She turned around and didn't even have time to scream as the invader, fully reformed, swiped the ground, knocking her off her feet and five meters away.  
  
The others were now aware that the invader had reformed itself.  
  
"Ruriko! Get a hold of yourself! Ruriko!" Ukiya yelled from afar, for he could not reach her since she lay beyond the invader, who was reluctant to let them pass him.  
  
Ruriko however sank into unconsciousness.  
  
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"Wh-where am I?"  
  
"In your mind."  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"That does not matter, my child. The question is what are you going to do now?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Your friends are in danger and need your help. Will you give it to them?"  
  
"Help? I couldn't even help my parents when they died. I'm no help to anyone. How do you expect me to help them?"  
  
"So you wish to die?"  
  
"Well, yes. If that's what it takes for me to see my parents again."  
  
"Do you want your friends to die?"  
  
"What? No, of course not!"  
  
"Do you want your friends to grief over your death?"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Then why do you wish to die?"  
  
"Because. . .I. . .I. . ."  
  
"It is not for us to choose who shall live and who shall die. It is all in the hand of fate."  
  
". . ."  
  
"You are fated to live. Use that chance wisely. Now, do you wish to help your friends?"  
  
". . .yes. Yes! What have I been thinking? Of course I'll help my friends!"  
  
"Then, may you fare well in battle. Release your spirit. Release your soul. . .Ayako. . ."  
  
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Ruriko opened her eyes and saw that her friends were fighting a losing battle. She got herself on her feet and started walking slowly toward the invader.  
  
The invader seeing that a new target had willingly came to him, started to shoot bright balls of energy from its three red eyes. Ruriko ignored the shots for all of them seemed to narrowly missed her, though she was only walking straight toward the invader. She seemed like in a trance; an expressionless face wore on as a mask. When she got near enough, the invader lifted its huge arm, ready to strike.  
  
"Ruriko!!!" Ukiya yelled, now aware of the impending danger about to befall Ruriko.  
  
But too late, the arm struck Ruriko and a huge dust cloud was kicked up in the air.  
  
"No!!!" Ukiya shouted till his voice was hoarse; he was down on his knees.  
  
Even the invader thought it had managed to kill off Ruriko, but then saw that she was not dead yet. As the dust cloud was blown off by a gust of wind, they all saw that the arm had not in fact hit Ruriko, but rather it was blocked by some unseen force in front of her.  
  
She was holding her hand outstretched; her gate had been opened and that force field was her doing. The others could have sworn that she was glowing a golden yellow too, but they thought it was a trick of the light.  
  
The invader's arm was still stuck on the force field and it was now stunned for some reason. All was silent for now.  
  
Then, at last, Ruriko spoke, in a cold, whispery voice that sounded ominous in the silence. "Be gone."  
  
With those two words, suddenly a light that was even brighter than the sun blinded them all. The others had to shield their eyes, wondering what is happening as the invader shrieked in agony. What their eyes could not see was that Ruriko was that source of light, and other than blinding the invader, it slowly ate the creature from the tip of its arm that tried to hit her till the tip of its horn, till no trace of it, not even crystals, were left.  
  
When the others managed to open their eyes, they were surprised to see that the invader had vanished into thin air. Ukiya rushed to Ruriko's side and listened for her heartbeat. To his relief, she was still breathing.  
  
"Quick, we've got to bring her back to base!"  
  
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Meanwhile, in another headquarters that was definitely not owned by AEGIS, Megumi entered the main room. A man was sitting in a chair at the head of the table. He remained a dark figure to Megumi, for the base was poorly lit.  
  
"So, I hear that the mission was a total flop," the man sneered.  
  
Megumi remained silent.  
  
The man sighed. "Never mind. By the way, have you collected the data I wanted?"  
  
"Yes, sir." Megumi took out a compact disc and inserted it into the disk drive of the main CPU. A screen appeared behind her. At first, it was blank, but then it began to show some pictures.  
  
"This is the data of the Gatekeepers remaining in Japan," she began.  
  
One by one, a picture of each of the Gatekeepers appeared on the screen.  
  
"Fen Feiring possesses the Gate of Red-hot. She's been a Gatekeeper longer than the others, hence she has some experience."  
  
"Kaoru Konoe possesses the Gate of Close-combat. Her physical prowess is dangerous, though she might prove useless in long-range combat."  
  
"Banba Chotaro aka Bancho possesses a gate similar to Kaoru Konoe, though his strength is even more. He is a bumbling idiot, if I may add and may prove to be harmless, though his brawn can make up for that."  
  
With disdain, she continued, "Ruriko Ikusawa possesses the Gate of Life. Only useful as a medic and nothing more. She is useless, incompetent, smarty-pants, know-it-all---."  
  
"Please," interrupted the man, "Continue."  
  
"Sorry, I got carried away. And last but not least, Shun Ukiya, the leader of the group, possesses the Gate of Gale. A worthy adversary. He was the one who defeated Reiji Kageyama."  
  
"Well, we shall see about that," added the man in an undertone. "Excellent, Megumi! But what about that renegade black Gatekeeper? I heard he had bothered our operations a few times."  
  
"Much about him, I do not know, sir. I only know that he is also an enemy with the Gatekeepers. I shall find out more and report back to you as soon as I can."  
  
"Very well, Megumi. You are dismissed."  
  
Megumi walked out of the room and only that man was left alone in the main room, for that was his private office.  
  
He placed his elbows on the table and rested this forehead on his hands as he sighed.  
  
"This is some twist of fate. After all these years, Kazero, you and your wretched friends are back again. But I shall not lose again to you. No, no indeed, my brother. . ."  
  
With that, he let out a long, sinister laugh.  
  
~~~To be continued. . .~~~  
  
Author's note: The plot thickens. Oh well, send me your reviews. I accept flames as well (hopefully you won't sent any ^^), but no spam! (that means you, Prof. Q and Rez) Well, till next time, ja!^^ 


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